Mad Max: Fury Road grossed almost $400 million worldwide, received 10 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and won six, the most of any film that year. So where the hell are our sequels?
We know writer-director George Miller has ideas, and probably even scripts, for two more movies set in his post-apocalyptic world. But three years have passed since the release of Fury Road and there’s been nary a peep about any actual movement on them. This weekend, the Sydney Morning Herald broke down a lawsuit that could explain why.
Filed in Australia by Miller’s production company, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, against Warner Bros., the suit claims the studio owes Miller’s company money related to Fury Road. Of course, the studio disagrees. Basically, Warner Bros. and Miller’s company have different views on everything including production itself, how everyone was treated, if contracts were upheld or not, problems in editing, and even how much money the film cost in the end. It’s quite a laundry list of problems and we urge you to head to the Sydney Morning Herald for all the details.
What this means for fans, though, is that Miller’s sequels are not likely to happen anytime soon and probably weren’t officially in the works to begin with, especially not if this dispute has been ongoing. The report stated, “The falling out emerged in a Supreme Court of NSW ruling late last year that the dispute should be heard here rather than in California,” and WB has appealed.
It sucks because Miller’s world is obviously so damn ripe to be explored, and we are dying to learn more about Furiosa (and, sure, Max) in the aftermath of Fury Road. But, as is the way of the world, money is almost certainly going to stop that from happening. The further adventures of Mad Max and Furiosa are likely to remain in George Miller’s mind and hard drive for now.